Promise and Blood
by Feed The Wrong Wolf
Summary: Azula is the second-most powerful person alive, and she isn't sure she'll survive it. - Fire Nation Wins AU. Rating will change to M with the second chapter.


_I tried worrying - had peace on earth, piece of my mind_  
_Promise and blood bring me down_  
_I tried worrying - had peace on earth, peace of mind_  
_Telling myself: 'It's not so bad to die in your sleep'_

— HEALTH - Black Static

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**TRIGGER WARNING: Major Character Death(s)**

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Her heart was racing on par with her thoughts. The open windows did nothing for the sweat forming on her brow, and the scrapes on her cheek stung, irritated by the prickling heat. The burns under her robes were still raw, even days old, sticking to their dressings painfully. She didn't have to look at the windows to know that the sky would be its usual color, a sickeningly frigid blue. She missed the red, now that it had gone. Even as it had begun to set, the sun hit her eyes harshly when she dared a glance outside, anyway.

The longer she stood, waiting, the more her ribs ached. She tried desperately to soothe her own mind, wild as it was…

_Fire Lord Azula. _

_You miscalculated. _

_Fire Lord Azula. _

_Even you fear me._

_Fire Lord Azula. _

_No lightning today?_

_Fire Lord Azula. Fire Lord Azula. Fire Lord Azula…_

Her conscious slammed itself back into the present, and she felt as though all her muscles had given out for just a moment, and her eyes flew open again, greeted by the still empty hall and the blinding light of the sun, orange and red and chasing her like a ghost -

_Will he be proud of the mess I've made?_

There _was no such thing_ as regret for her - not now, not any longer. No such thing as sorrow or faltering or hurt or longing, no more mistakes, and everything was so, _so_ quiet. She couldn't stand it. Her shoulders were tensed, and her fingernails found their way into the palms of her hands, piercing what had already healed - she grimaced and turned back to the window, letting her eyes be shocked by the sun on its way gone, bright and strong as lightning and destroying the horizon -

Azula stilled her breathing at last, closing her eyes as she turned her neck to face forward again. In and out and in and out and time stood still, until she feared she might vomit, or shoot lightning at the guards by the entryway -

It wasn't long after she'd heard the rumbling of their approach that the doors swung open, and at this break in silence, Azula did not jump. The echoes of metal armor scraping against itself berated her ears as a small army of guards marched before and after their Phoenix King.

There must have been two dozen, stepping tightly in unison, but Azula couldn't be bothered to count.

The sea of metal parted, and so she stepped down from her platform.

Kneeling put strain on every muscle in her body. Briefly, she wondered if she would be able to stand again, stand before her king and kingdom…

She cursed herself, wishing she'd never taken a pair of scissors to her hair. She could see him coming, even with her eyes sharply focused on the floor. His robes moved like a spider-snake around his legs, and she noticed that he walked more slowly than usual - almost deliberate with how his steps would land…

He stopped before her, sooner than she'd anticipated.

"Rise, Fire Lord Azula."

So she did. Against the rays of light from the windows, their shadows cast tall dark masses along the wall.

Looking into his eyes, she worried that she couldn't hide the emotion tugging at the corners of her own, the clench in her jaw, or the way her hands shook under her robes.

Seeing him, after all that had happened… He was alive. _He'd come back._

His eyes were calm…or tired, if she wasn't imagining things still, and traced on the outer edges with bruises. Azula's first instinct was to assess him for any more signs of injury, aside from the hint he'd given with his steps. The second was to kneel once again, ignoring his command.

She stood perfectly still, in spite of both urges - and in spite of everything else her mind screamed at her.

"The Avatar is defeated." Ozai's voice bellowed through the hall, but his tone was meant for her alone.

Hearing him say it was so different from reading his missive...Her heartbeat grew rapid again, unruly with pride. A rush of euphoria followed, wracking her battered form, and she felt a chill running up her spine, reminding her not to collapse. She grit her teeth against the catching in her throat, and just like that, all of the blood, the fire, the tears and the nightmares vanished from her thoughts. The silence after the echo wasn't anything to be feared. As she'd suspected, it was only the cost of greatness - though now, it seemed so small.

It took everything in her power to look him in the eye and speak.

"Only the Phoenix King could bestow this honor upon our nation. He did not deserve the mercy of a quick death."

His eyes changed in response, and she knew she'd spoken wisely.

"I'm told your brother was not so lucky."

The words made her lips curl upward involuntarily. It was the first time she'd felt anything but _pain_ in so _long_…

Azula's voice was clear, though she'd hardly spoken for days.

"He never was."

Her reward was the hint of a smile on her father's face.

It was all she'd ever wanted, and nothing like she'd imagined.

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**A/N: **Yep I'm doing this, apologies in advance. It's only gonna get darker, so if that isn't your thing, please skip this story. It will be a doozy with many trigger warnings, once chapter two is up (when? who knows? not me.)

Enjoy!


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